Sotherton aims to triple up in Gothenburg

The withdrawal of Paula Radcliffe from the European Championships for the happy reason that she is pregnant has left Kelly Sotherton as Britain's top-ranked female and one of the few realistic hopes for a medal in Gothenburg next month.

But the heptathlete is battling the double handicap of a back injury she suffered while winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in March and the ominous prospect of facing Sweden's Carolina Kluft in her own backyard, arguably the world's best female athlete and unbeaten for four years.

Any doubts the 29-year-old from Birmingham may be harbouring are well hidden. Sotherton will warm up by competing in four events - the 100 metres hurdles, long jump, high jump and shot - at the European Trials at Sport City here today and tomorrow with her eye on more than just the Gothenburg heptathlon.

Already certain to be selected for her main event, she also has the qualifying mark for the long jump and is campaigning for a chance in Britain's 4x100m squad, who dropped the baton at the European Cup in Malaga last month, a slip that contributed to the women being relegated for the second time in three years. If her unlikely wish is granted Sotherton, like Kluft, would be competing in three events in the European Championships.

"I keep going on about getting into the 4x100 and I might have a bit of a chance now," Sotherton said. "I could do that. We've got the [UK Athletics] relay coach here [at the High Performance Centre in Birmingham] and I keep badgering him to let me join in relay practice because I know I could pass the baton.

"Heptathlon and the long jump is my priority but, if I qualify for anything else at the trials, I'll do it. I like qualifying for things. Anything after the heptathlon is fun for me, like the long jump was in Helsinki at the world championships last year when I don't think I got recognised for my performance there. I was ranked 30th and I came eighth."

Having won Olympic bronze at heptathlon in Athens in 2004, Sotherton was disappointed with fifth in Helsinki and she will not lack for incentive to do well in Gothenburg. The presence of Kluft, Sweden's leading sports personality, means the spotlight will shine brightest on the heptathlon. "I just like competing with Carolina because we are great mates and we get on," she said. "I think heptathlon is underrated, especially in this country. I don't think we get the recognition we deserve but hopefully we'll get that in Gothenburg. The only concern for me is that there are about six or seven other girls performing just as well as me, so it's going to be a tough competition."

Preparations have been affected by the back injury first suffered two years ago when she fell over a javelin and which was aggravated again during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. "It's one of those things I have to take care of and I know it could flare up at any time," she said. "It may have been a blessing in disguise. I had six weeks off and I've come back fresher."

Sotherton and the javelin make uneasy bedfellows. She claimed after her gold medal in Melbourne that the performance "was rubbish" because she threw only 32.04m. She knows she must sort it out if she is to challenge Kluft at Beijing in 2008.

"I've had to learn from scratch because of my back as it was a twisted injury, like a bowling action, and I've had to learn not to do that again," she explained. "So I've had to start from one stride. I know it's not going to go 50 metres in Gothenburg. I know it's not going to go 45 metres but, as long as it makes an improvement, that is the main thing. It's a long-term project and I have made massive, massive progress. Whereas before I would be positive but have a negative undertone, this time it's only going in one direction." A bit, Sotherton hopes, like herself.